{"id":1219,"date":"2016-10-06T22:02:14","date_gmt":"2016-10-07T02:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsoccer.com\/?p=1219"},"modified":"2016-10-06T22:02:14","modified_gmt":"2016-10-07T02:02:14","slug":"nycfc-face-necaxa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2016\/10\/06\/nycfc-face-necaxa\/","title":{"rendered":"Who are You? NYCFC face Necaxa"},"content":{"rendered":"

On September 27th, New York City FC<\/strong> announced they would be spending part of the international bye week playing a friendly against Liga MX<\/strong> side Necaxa<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wait, who?<\/p>\n

And while I am sure that a lot of NYCFC<\/strong> fans (and therefore readers of these essays) are aficionados of the Liga MX<\/strong>, I personally needed to dig into the background of this team a bit, because I am as ignorant as a bag of hammers about them, the Liga MX and most things south of the Rio Grande<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Who are You? NYCFC face Necaxa<\/h2>\n

A Bit of History<\/h3>\n

The \u201cElectricians<\/strong>\u201d – or if you prefer, \u201cLos Electricistas\u201d<\/strong> – were founded in 1923 by William H Frasser<\/strong>, an Englishman who, for reasons I have not been able to fathom, actually owned the Light and Power Company<\/strong> in the state of Puebla<\/strong>. Their heyday seems to have been the 1930s (and whose wasn\u2019t?) but they disappeared during the 1940s, and then had occasional success in the 1950s and 60s. In the 1970s they were actually sued<\/em> by a player for poor treatment, and continued to wrestle with insolvency until they were bought by a bunch of Spanish<\/strong> businessmen. In 1975 they won a CONCACAF Champions Cup<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Anything else? Oh yes, they are currently sitting in eighth place in Liga MX, just above their \u201cred line\u201d and their natural rivals are Atlante FC<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Now, the crazy thing is, or rather, among<\/em> the crazy things is, that during much of this time, Necaxa was a Mexico City<\/strong> team. Even though they were started in the city of Puebla, which is about 100 miles southeast. And now? Well, now they play in beautiful Aguascalientes <\/strong>where they relocated in the early 2000s and which is about 400 miles northwest of Mexico City<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A Bit of Insight<\/h3>\n

But you know, that\u2019s all just data. And data is fine, but it doesn\u2019t tell the whole story. For that, you gotta talk to someone who knows the team. Someone who lives and dies by it. Or at least, you have to talk to their son.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad is a Necaxa fan since the 1950s\u201d Fox Sports<\/strong>\u00a0broadcaster Francisco X. Rivera<\/strong><\/a> told me, \u201cso I feel pretty qualified on them.\u201d Okay, so who should we watch out for when NYCFC face Necaxa? \u201cRight now, their best player is a Chilean<\/strong> forward, Edson Puch<\/strong>, who, you may recall, scored twice against El Tri<\/strong><\/em> in the recent 7-0 Copa America<\/strong> thrashing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plus, I pointed out, they also recently picked up Fabian Espindola<\/strong> who was instrumental in dashing NYCFC\u2019s playoff hopes<\/a> last year when he played for D. C. United<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, that\u2019s not who Francisco tells us to be concerned about when NYCFC face Necaxa. Nor should they be particularly worried about Claudio Riano<\/strong> who played with NYCFC\u2019s Federico Bravo<\/strong> at Boca Juniors<\/strong> in 2013. \u201cKeep an eye out for Jesus Isijara<\/strong>.\u201d the well-dressed Rivera warns, \u201cHe\u2019s a 27-year old attacking midfielder. Very intelligent, quick, has good long range shot, and a knack for being at the right place inside the box.\u201d<\/p>\n

Great. Just what we were hoping to hear was in store for the squad when NYCFC face Necaxa.<\/p>\n

A Bit of a\u00a0Quandary<\/h3>\n

All kidding aside, one has to wonder why NYCFC are embarking on a 5,000 mile roundtrip in the final weeks of the season. A 5,000 mile round trip as they\u2019re about to enter the playoffs. A 5,000 mile round trip when their midfield, as Jon Sauerschell<\/strong><\/a> likes to remind us, is 109 years old.<\/p>\n

Patrick Vieira<\/strong> has said it was because the team had momentum and didn\u2019t want to lose that. \u201cThere are some players who are doing really well and I don\u2019t want to break that momentum where we play one game each week and we\u2019re going to prepare the game as we did from the beginning of the season. Those players need games, they need to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which would seem to indicate that fans would see something like the regular starting XI when NYCFC face Necaxa, right? Except Vieira also said<\/a> \u201cAnd then we have players who didn\u2019t play a lot who need games as well. I\u2019m looking to satisfy the physical side of all the players. Some players who have not had a lot of opportunity to play a lot this year will have the opportunity to play\u201d<\/p>\n

That has led to speculation by writers like Roddy Russell<\/a> that players like Mikey Lopez<\/strong>, Eirik Johansen<\/strong>, and Diego Martinez<\/strong> might make the starting XI when NYCFC face Necaxa. And that we might even see Mix Diskerud<\/strong> and Andre Rawls<\/strong> on the Mexican pine. Or whatever the non-starters sit on down there.<\/p>\n

And I get that. But a five thousand mile round trip?<\/p>\n

I mean, there were absolutely no teams available closer<\/em>? No USL<\/strong> or NASL<\/strong> teams looking to add a little revenue \u2013 and star power! \u2013 to their side? Can you imagine the phone calls? \u201cSt. Louis F.C.<\/strong>? Hey, it\u2019s Claudio Reyna<\/strong>\u2026 no? Okay. Hey, San Antonio F.C. <\/strong>? Claudio Reyna here\u2026 oh.\u201d And if Aguascalientes, Mexico wasn\u2019t too far, where was? The Maracana<\/strong>? The Etihad<\/strong>? The mind boggles.<\/p>\n

A Bit of an Opportunity<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

All that said, when NYCFC face Necaxa, it\u2019s an opportunity for the team to show itself against a different kind of an opponent. And honestly, after a run of games against the bottom half of MLS<\/strong>\u2019s table (D. C. United notwithstanding) it might be a good idea for the team to play against some quality. It might be an opportunity for them to remind themselves where the bar is set as they head into the playoffs against teams with more experience than they have.<\/p>\n

It might just be a good idea for them to remind themselves just exactly who they are. Because we really wanna know.<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n